


The Mockingjay's Shadow

by oakfarmer



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But a darkish version, Canonical Character Death, District 13 too eager for refugees, F/M, Love without the reaping, always happens anyway, its the shadow side, vague Gadge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 16:39:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20820467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oakfarmer/pseuds/oakfarmer
Summary: Madge Undersee is dubbed 'the Mockingjay' by the rebellion, after winning the 74th Hunger Games.When her lightening arrow strikes the Quarter Quell arena, Katniss and Peeta must escape the firebombing of District 12 and become refugees of a district that survives underground.*Incomplete





	1. Chapter 1

The square’s screens go dark. Madge Undersee just directed a lightning bolt into the ceiling of the arena. Those archery lesson’s Katniss gave her after the Quarter Quell announcement, served her well during her second stint in the games.

The last thing they saw was her glowing arrow exploding before the power across the district cut off. No one has dared to breathe, let alone move. They are crowded together for mandatory viewing hours. What the tributes have been referring to as midnight in their artificially created clock of death, is only about six in the evening on the outside.

Katniss feels Gale grip her arm. He leans down close, sharp hushes into her ear, “We need to go to the woods, now. Get everyone you can to the meadow. There’s no time.” She looks up at him. Searching his eyes. The peacekeepers haven’t moved yet but some are murmuring between each other.

He releases her arm. “There’s going to be a consequence for what we just saw.” Gale says while meeting her stare, this time he doesn’t whisper. He scans the crowd and starts pushing towards the other miners at their side.

Katniss grabs Prim’s hand. Their mother holds tight to Prim’s other arm. They begin to weave through the frozen crowd, making their way to the square’s edge. Katniss shakes shoulders as they pass, and hisses ‘get to the meadow’ into as many of the shocked faces as she can without slowing her pace.

When they break through the crowd, Katniss looks back to see Gale now has a group of men gathered around him. He motions and a wave moves. Pushing and pulling away from the center. The peacekeepers on stage are huddled together. They look down at the movement among the people below.

A spot of brightness catches Katniss’ attention through the sea of dark hair. She didn’t know she’d been looking for him, but now that she’s seen him the sense of having found what she’d been searching for is unmistakable. He’s standing with his family among the other merchants. They haven’t joined Gale’s growing group of Seam families exiting the square.

Katniss weaves back in, continuing to drag Prim and their mother behind her. As she elbows and shoves, she points the onlookers to Gale’s shrinking form near the back of the square. Prim is repeating the mantra, ‘get to the meadow’ that Katniss has stopped.

A shout from the Head Peacekeeper interrupts her movements, “Back to your houses!” The line of uniforms marches down the steps. The quiet square is now full of unidentifiable voices. Gale’s organized wave is ready to erupt into a buzzing hive in every direction.

“Peeta!” Katniss shouts across the dozen people between them. “Peeta!” His confused blonde head jerks around until he sees her frantic waving. The confusion on his face intensifies but he pushes towards her.

“Katniss?” The crowd around them is shuffling away to their homes.

She grabs his forearm but quickly lets go, registering that it’s the first time she’s ever actually touched him. “We need to get to the meadow, now!” The panic is creeping in, how far ahead is Gale at this point? What does he think is going to happen?

Peeta’s eyes go wide then a realization flashes behind them. He takes her hand and jumps towards his family. “Dad! Rye! We need to move. To the meadow, now!” His words are orders but his mother seems to think this is a negotiation.

“The keepers said to go back to our houses. They’ll do a curfew check, we’re not galivanting off to the meadow with the Seam!” His mother’s shrill voice cuts over the crowd. Peeta is already pushing at their backs but she digs in her heels. “We’re going home!” She starts to drag Mr. Mellark.

“Dad, where’s Bannock?” Peeta’s jumping, attempting to see over the other merchants.

“He and Maisel were on the edge, they're probably heading home.” Mrs. Mellark is still jerking Peeta’s father’s arm to the bakery as he answers.

This back and forth is slowing them down. Katniss sees a gap and takes the lead, bringing Prim and Mother to her side and Peeta still clutching the hand behind her. “Peeta, please, we have to go.” Katniss pleads with him.

Peeta looks at her then down at their joined hands. Maybe he didn’t even realize he was still holding her. He nods as he slowly lets go. “I’ll see you in the meadow.”

She returns a small nod of her own before turning away from him. The absence of the pressure of his hand feels heavy in her own.

The three small women travel quickly between the parting crowd. Peacekeeper orders can still be heard at their backs. They dart down a side alley, a route Katniss learned in the many times her game bag was too full to safely carry on the main road.

When they near the meadow, the figures ahead have converged into a mass blur in the tall grass. Raised voices argue over the hum of activity. Katniss pulls Prim tighter as they round the side of the gathering.

She hears him before she sees him. Miners are circled around Gale. His directions have turned into heated yelling at several of the men. Katniss squeezes through to the circle’s center.

His rant pauses for only a moment when he sees her before continuing, “We’ll be able to handle dogs a hell of a lot easier than whatever the Capitol has planned!”

“The road will be safer. We can make a break along the tracks.” An older miner Katniss doesn’t recognize shouts back.

“NO! We’re wasting time! Thom, Huckle, and Sal, fence!” Gale and his crewmates part off. The old miner and his group continue bickering.

Gale’s tone is back to directives. Pointing the bottom of the fence posts out to his team. Katniss hears the terms ‘failure point’ and “critical force” over the growing dissent around her. Gale slips under the divot below the chain link and disappears behind the trees, while his crew beats the places he pointed to with rocks.

“I ain’t taking my kids into those woods.” Another man yells.

“To the road!” Katniss has lost track of which voice belongs to who. Batches of families start breaking off onto their individual courses. Even as more continue filling the meadow.

Gale emerges with a rope out of his snare supplies. Slipping back onto the side of the fence where chaos is bubbling. He ties the rope high on one of the steel poles, all four men grab hold and pull on Gale’s count.

The post buckles at the bottom, laying to the ground leaving a narrow ‘v’ shaped passageway. The crowd inches towards the fence, an unknown chest behind her shoves into Katniss’ back.

“Back up!” Gale’s harsh bark halts the forward movement. He re-ties the rope to a second pole and they repeat the process. The third pole to buckle creates a wide gap of fence folded flat into the field.

“Get under the tree line!” Gale and his crew signal towards the forest, standing on each side of the fallen fence section. Shoulders bump and feet catch heels as they trample the chain link into the dirt.

Katniss pulls her family to the side Gale is manning. Spotting Hazel and Gale’s siblings standing near him on the edge of the woods. She walks into the open arms of the woman who has been more of a mother to her these last few years than the one clinging to Prim’s arm. Hazel hugs her tight and Katniss realizes how hard she’s been holding Prim’s hand. 

People pour across the rudimentary gate, spreading out. Hands clasped forming family lines that twist into the shadows between the trees. Gale continues giving orders, assigning each of his crewmen to a certain area. Calling out new names to lead the borders of how deep people should go.

The meadow is quickly emptying. Too quickly. How many split off to the road? How many are hunkered in their houses complying with the Peacekeepers? Katniss watches face after face, full of fear as they step into the place she feels most at home.

“Katniss! Get them in the woods, stay on the edge!” Her name has been added to Gale’s listing. He points the direction for her to move. Hazel scoops up Posy and the Everdeen/Hawthorne line follow the instructions.

Tucked behind the first row of pines, they watch the remaining crowd thinning. More blonde heads have joined the back quarter of the retreat. Gale is upping the pace and those left outside the fence are now jogging to reach the trees.

Katniss feels her chest relax ever so slightly when she finally sees the bakers. Peeta is running beside his middle brother but she can’t see the rest of the Mellarks. They are some of the last left in the meadow. She steps out to the clearing between the fence and the forest.

Peeta’s blue eyes find hers. A violent boom rings out across District 12.


	2. Chapter 2

The ground shakes with each bomb dropped. One right after the other. Three booms then a pause only long enough for the hovercraft to circle back. Eighteen seconds. Their very own clockwork arena.

She’s not sure what they could possibly still be hitting. Dropping firebombs on top of burning rubble. Making sure not a speck of coal dust escapes unignited.

Gale has taken what was supposed to be the first wave of survivors to the lake. He hoped to reach the large water source before nightfall. Leaving Katniss and 15 volunteers to guide the district’s second wave of survivors at daybreak.

That wave is looking more and more like a rain drop in a dead sea. Less than fifty crossed the fence before the smoke forced them deeper into the forest. Half of those are hurt or burned. Three have already succumbed to their injuries, and there are six more that are unlikely to survive the night.

Mother and Prim are doing what they can with bandages torn from skirts and the herbs Katniss gathered before dark. She raided the caches her and Gale kept in various strategic locations, but the few medical supplies they stored were used up almost as fast as they were handed over.

Peeta and his brother started a fire and are rotating between the only two pots, keeping the healers in a steady stream of boiled water. If death by burns isn’t the most painful way to die, death by infected burns might be.

The crude camp is set up near a brook. Katniss watches the moonlight dance in the babbling flow, hugging her knees to her chest. No matter how hard she concentrates, no sound in her woods can drown out the groans of the patients downstream. So, she counts. The rhythmic thundering of their home being leveled, followed by the pause before the next clap. 

18, 19, 20. The pause is too long. 21, 22. She looks towards their small fire. 23, 24. The beacon of light between the trees.

“Peeta!” She jumps up, running to him. “Put it out!” He flips the pot and stomps on the flames before she reaches his side. He grabs hold of her arms while she tries to control her breathing. She can feel the camp’s attention on her in the dark.

“What is---” Peeta’s question is cut off by the engine drone growing louder in the sky. She closes her eyes and he closes the space between them. Embracing her in their final seconds before the triple boom turns them all to ash like everyone else.

Smoke, he smells like smoke. Sweat. But there’s still a hint of dill, faintly cinnamon like it’s baked into his skin. Maybe she can at least have the pleasant thought of a safe bakery and warm bread in her mind when she’s incinerated.

“Katniss, listen.” Peeta whispers in her ear. “It’s not coming this way. It’s getting quieter.” 

She focuses on the hovercrafts hum fading in the distance. But it’s fading in the wrong direction. 

“The lake!” Katniss softly cries out, squinting into the woods as if she could see through 2 miles of tree covered terrain. 

“No, they’re fine.” Peeta rubs soothing circles over her back. “It’s warm, they wouldn't have lit any fires. They’re okay.” He continues his comforting string of words and hands. She returns to her counting, waiting for the strike. 

When she hits one hundred without a bomb interruption, she slowly inches back from his chest. His arms drop to his sides. 

“Do you think it’s coming back?” The croak in her voice, a reminder of the tears she let fall while in his arms.

“I don’t know. Maybe we can keep the fire out. Your mom said she was close to finishing the first round of dressings.” Peeta’s own tone is still calm. 

Guilt creeps up her throat. He’s been comforting her when he’s the one who’s lost more than half his family. “Peeta, I’m....I’m so sorry about your—“

“Please,” His calm voice cracks. “Don’t. Not yet.”

She only nods fighting the tears that now aren’t for fear but for his pain. 

“Will you sit with me?” His eyes glistening in the dark. 

She leads him to a spot by the brook. They sink down shoulder to shoulder, waiting for the dawn. 

“Is this everyone!?” Gale rounds the lake shore. Into the clearing where she has led her group of 57, three carried on makeshift stretchers that were pieced together in the earliest morning light.

She sprints out to meet him and starts pulling him away from her exhausted group. “Can we talk in the cabin for a minute?” They don’t need to discuss their district’s losses with an audience of the dead’s families and neighbors.

Once inside the lake’s rundown cabin, Gale standing in front of her with his arms crossed, she thinks of the last time they stood like this in these same spots. Where he’d ripped a tear in the fabric of their already fraying friendship. Called her a coward for suggesting they could run away with their families. A suggestion he’d made countless times before.

“Less than 50 got out after you left. Not all of them made it through the night. The district is completely gone.” She breaks the news to him. Look what the rebellion he wanted so bad got them. Gale’s face turns hard as stone. Rage. The same expression she saw here months ago.

The winter had been the first stage of the Capitol cracking down on them. Gale was laid up from the whipping. Almost a month spent with his back torn open on Madge’s kitchen table. The fence electricity was increasingly unpredictable. The Hob set ablaze, burned to the ground. If it weren’t for food from Madge and a cleaning job from Haymitch, the Everdeens and Hawthornes wouldn’t have made it.

At the first thaw, Katniss brought him to her father’s lake. Told him she was ready to try their luck in the woods. But apparently Gale had received more than morphline and rest in Madge’s kitchen. Whispers of unrest and uprisings. Mockingjays and protests. When Katniss didn’t share his enthusiasm for the rebel cause, he snapped. How could she still think about running away when they finally had the chance to fight back?

Maybe he’d been right about not running. Maybe everyone that just escaped District 12 would be dead if they had. But she’d been right that 12 didn’t stand a chance against the Capitol.

“How did you know what they would do?” Katniss asks. It’s a question she’s had on her mind since she started hiking towards the lake. The ruins of the district still burning from the bombs Gale saw coming, probably even before the order had been given by President Snow.

“There weren’t too many other options. Not like they haven’t done it before.” Gale looks unfocused at some point behind her. She thinks of District 13, another district the Capitol wiped off the map during another rebellion.

“We need to deal with food ‘til we can move again. Decide if we march west for 10 or south for 11. Last I heard the rebels in 10 were doing alright. Access to more weapons than 11. We’ve got each of our bows, one knife—”

“I’ve got one more knife from the stashes.” She interrupts.

“Two knives, and one net. The edibles around the lake could be depleted in just a few days. Get a rotation set up for fishing. Maybe if we could get a deer, might be enough to give us a decent shot before we move out.”

Three days is all it took to strip her father’s lake bare. The fishing net has repeatedly come up empty. Not a single tuber plant is left along the banks.

After one full day of tracking, she finally took down a large doe early this morning. The excitement among the survivors at the sight of the deer quickly faded, when Gale announced it was being turned into jerky for travel provisions.

She and the Mellark brothers were set to the task. Peeta has proven to be handier with a knife than Rye. A fact, he tells her, is thanks to being the designated butcher of her traded squirrels. Both of them are equally good with fires though, so Rye works at smoking batches of the thinly sliced meat. She and Peeta work side by side on cutting off every ounce of venison the doe can provide.

They work in companionable silence. It’s familiar and comfortable.

Peeta is the closest thing she has to a friend. There’s her sister of course, and a very strained relationship with Gale. But Peeta’s the only one who doesn’t expect things of her. Doesn’t need her to join a rebellion or bring dinner to the table.

After Madge survived her first games, she wasn’t allowed to return to school. Katniss thought the seat she left at lunch would stay empty, but Peeta had sat down their first day back. Said he needed a quiet place to eat, and asked if he could join her. She allowed it, and he spent the rest of the school year’s lunches sitting opposite Katniss.

Most days they just ate together. Occasionally they shared unimportant details of their lives. Careful to avoid anything about Katniss’ hunting (or lack thereof) or the trouble brewing outside the school’s doors. The crowded cafeteria certainly wasn’t the place to tell him what she really wanted to say. To finally thank him for the bread that saved her life.

“Has Gale decided which way we’re going?” Peeta asks.

Katniss shakes her head. “I don’t know that he would tell me even if he had. He seemed to be leaning towards 10 but that was based on information from before the Quell. I almost think he’ll just flip a coin.”

Peeta puzzles at her for a moment before opening his mouth to speak, but he quickly shuts it and jerks his head to the sky. He leaps up.

“Hovercraft!!” He yells out. “Rye, the smoke!”

She hears it now. That horrible hum that signal’s their doom. She runs and grabs him. Peeta and Rye are trying to put out the flames.

“It’s too late! Get under the trees!” She pulls on him. People are scattering and screaming in every direction.

But then a different type of boom echoes across the lake. A voice through the loudspeaker overhead.

“This is District 13. Searching for survivors of District 12. We’re here to help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, readers! And we're off to District 13. I've made a tumblr now. You can add me @oakfarmer12 (cause oakfarmer was taken, where you at my fellow cultivator of trees)


	3. Chapter 3

“Pee in this cup. Your new uniform is next to the sink when you’re done.”

She might find being asked to urinate in a cup humiliating, if it weren’t the least invasive thing the nurse has put her through in the last hour. Peeta warned her that the health check was ‘very thorough’. But couldn’t say anything about an examination _there_, or the detailed questions about her nonexistent sexual activity.

They’d been given 48 hours to recuperate before their rescuers started what they called ‘placement testing’. Individual interviews about what they did back in 12. Multiple choice tests covering every subject from basic math to advanced mechanical aptitude. And now, physicals from head to toe.

The officials of 13 were so impressed with Prim and Mother’s care for the victims of the bombing, under such dire circumstances, that they were streamlined straight to medic positions in the hospital. Gale was also singled out for his role in their escape and leadership at the lake. He’s even been summoned to multiple meetings with the President of this secret underground District.

The District they’d believed was destroyed has been an independent nation for the last 75 years. The ‘graphite miners’ main industry of nuclear weaponry secured their independence and a non-aggression pact with the Capitol. The entire district is contained below the earth’s surface. A deep network of cement tunnels and chambers. Generations born, living and dying under grey walls and artificial sunlight.

Katniss’ new uniform is just as grey as the rest of her surroundings. A jumper of practical fabric and the shape of a sack. If they gave her an actual flour sack to wear, she wouldn’t complain though. There are three meals a day, warm showers and they aren’t marching towards the unknown while she and Gale try to feed over a thousand mouths.

1,037. All that’s left of District 12’s population. After one of his meetings, Gale announced that Madge and Haymitch were rescued from the arena and added to the count of survivors. No one has seen Madge yet. Mother and Prim are helping with Haymitch in the hospital. He’s not dealing with 13’s strict alcohol prohibition all that well.

She arrives back to what the refugees have been told are only temporary accommodations until they can be assigned private rooms. Rows of bunkbeds as far as she can see. She’s wondered if this is as far down as they can go, if she could feel the world’s center below her feet.

Peeta and Rye are sitting on the bunk across from her own. Having a hushed conversation between them.

“Hey, Everdeen.” Rye gives her a subdued greeting as she approaches. Peeta looks over his shoulder with a barely there smile.

She sinks down onto her thin mattress, the bedsprings squeak in protest. Rye continues, “So, do the girls get to enjoy the magazines too?”

“Rye.” Peeta scolds his brother. Katniss looks confused between the two of them. He sighs then reluctantly informs her, “We had to give sperm samples.”

It takes several seconds for what he’s said to make sense. Katniss eyebrows rise up, “Why??”

Peeta lets her question float a moment before answering, “That’s what we were discussing. I met a refugee from 10 in the dining hall. Asked him why I hadn’t seen hardly any kids. He said a pox swept through the District years ago. It killed a lot of people, including the President’s husband and daughter. Left even more infertile. It’s why they’re so eager to have as many refugees as they can get. The district will die of old age without what he called ‘fresh stock’.”

She looks down the hall of beds at all the ‘fresh stock’ around them. Mothers holding their babies and toddlers, young vibrant men and women. The generosity they’ve received so far, an upfront loan on a debt to be collected at a later date.

Looking back at Peeta, a rainy day and blackened bread crosses her mind. “No one gives food for free.”

“Group 18! It’s time for weapons assessment.” A deep male voice calls out from the stairs.

The gun feels heavy in her hands. So much clunkier than the bow they took from her. She boarded the rescue hovercraft with a bow in her hand and full quiver on her back. She exited empty handed and full of promises it would be kept safe. Confiscated as a precaution but she’d get it back one day.

‘One day’ is apparently not during weapons assessment. She lifts the rifle as instructed, taking aim at the target in front of her. When she pulls the trigger, the gun beats back against her shoulder.

Her bullet lands a few inches high of the bullseye. The instructor praises her shot. She hates it. Everything about this machine she holds. Whatever this district wants her to pay, she will not fulfill her debt with bullets.

She aims again. This time creating her own bullseyes in her mind. The left edge, 3 inches completely missing the board on the right, one in the ground for good measure. A few more far from center until her clip is gone. The thin line of her instructor’s mouth lets her know she hit her mark.

“Welcome, to all our refugees. I am President Alma Coin, and we are honored to have you here. As you are acutely aware, the treachery of the Capitol knows no bounds. Thirteen is united in the fight for the safety of all of Panem.” A thin woman stands on a high platform above the crowd below. Her long grey hair perfectly matches the district she leads.

“Our Mockingjay has garnered support for the rebellion in every District and within the Capitol. Her cooperation going forward will be essential to achieving a free Panem.” Madge stands nearby, behind the President. Her back is rod straight and her arms are stiff at her sides. A worse for the wear Haymitch Abernathy and a lost looking Finnick Odair are to her left and right.

It’s the first time Katniss has seen any of the Victors. Standing in 13’s equivalent to the square for the Presidential address.

“All of us must do our part to bring justice and peace to the nation. Your services are required in that cause.” Katniss glances at Peeta by her side. Would they make him a solider? Gale has already received a rank and unit.

“When you exit here, you will find our schedule machines in each of the halls. Place your right arm under the beam and your compartment number, job assignment, and remaining time slots for today will be imprinted.” She’s familiar with the arm markings every resident of 13 sports. At first, she’d thought they were tattoos, but Mother and Prim have had five so far for their hospital rounds. The ink breaks down at the end of the day, then the next morning they get a new timestamp for where they are expected to be during any given hour.

The President continues her stale speech interspersed with instructions. Katniss looks around at the cement network of railings and passageways spiraling up the high tunnel they’re in. “…..and again welcome to District 13.” They’ve been dismissed.

A slow shuffling towards the lines forming at the exits. The closer they get to the schedulers, the more dread settles in her stomach. Watching each person stick in their arm and await their fate. Something about it reminds her of reaping day. When they lined up and waited for a peacekeeper to prick blood from their fingers. Confirm their identity and herd them in with their same aged peers.

Rye goes first. He quickly pulls out his arm and holds it up close to his face. “Compartment 754, Solider Rank 3.”

Katniss feels the dread in her stomach turn to bile in her throat. But Rye smiles. “Looks like those wrestling moves we did paid off.” He’s grinning at Peeta who’s mouth is turned down in a slight frown. What did they do? She thinks through the assessments, there was a brief hand-to-hand combat session during weapons.

Peeta’s arm is already laying in the machine. She wants to yank it out of there. Maybe if it can’t print, it can’t happen.

He slowly turns over his forearm and looks down. “Compartment 754, Kitchen Duty.” Katniss can’t tell from his expression if he’s upset or happy with his result. She’s ecstatic.

“Aw, sorry Peet. Guess you’re too good of a baker to let out of the kitchen.” Rye claps him on the shoulder.

“Miss, you’re next. Right arm here.” The lady watching the machines grabs Katniss’ arm and lays it down. It’s not how she expected it to feel, just warmth traveling from her wrist to her elbow.

She turns her arm over as slowly as Peeta did. “Compartment 692, Kitchen Duty.” A huge smile spreads across Peeta’s face.

“We’ll be together.” Peeta says. She nods and returns a smile of her own. Something is wrong though.

They’ve shifted out of the way of the others in line. She turns back to the woman who put her arm in and Katniss holds the dried ink out to show her. “This compartment isn’t right. My family’s number is different.” Prim and Mother had received their compartment along with their schedules this morning.

The woman looks her up and down, making no attempt to hide the annoyance on her face. “How old are you? 16 and up get paired with a roommate.” And with that she turns back to the next waiting arm.

Katniss blinks at the back of the woman’s head. Peeta and Rye are watching her when she turns back to them.

They’re pointed to a residence directory map. If she’s remembering correctly, it looks like Mother and Prim’s compartment isn’t that far from the one she’s been assigned. Only seven doors down.

She parts from the Mellark brother’s when the elevator reaches her floor. Peeta offers to walk her the rest of the way but she tells him she’ll be okay.

When she passes Prim’s number, she presses her hand to the lock just in case. It doesn’t open for her handprint. She’ll have to wait for them to get back from their shift.

She puts her hand on 692’s lock and the door immediately slides open. Her roommate is standing between the two beds, shiny blonde hair and a smile bright enough to match the compartment’s white walls.

“Oh, Katniss! It’s you, they wouldn’t tell me who my roommate was. Just that you’d be a girl over sixteen. Well, this will be nice. Peeta’s told me so much about you.” Delly keeps talking, a string of pleasantries. Katniss tries to think of places she can hide when she needs silence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katniss and Delly give me Elphaba and Glinda vibes, lol


	4. Chapter 4

The room alarm jolts awake the Everdeen women. Katniss and Prim narrowly avoid bumping heads.

“Don’t know if I’ll get used to that as a wakeup call.” Prim flops back onto the pillow.

“You’d better sit up Prim, so you don’t fall back asleep.” Mother says from her bed on the other side of the room.

Katniss pokes Prim in the side, sending her little sister into a fit of giggles. “Up, up, Little Duck.”

“Katniss, you’d better go quick. It’s not a good idea to be late around here. Especially on your first day.” Her mother’s feet have already hit the floor.

Ms. Everdeen tosses the covers off both of them. The sisters release a matching groan at the loss of warmth.

“Maybe I’ll see in you in the dining hall.” Katniss pats Prim’s head and jumps up.

There’s no way to quietly open the automatic door to the compartment. It slides open with a whoosh. Katniss peaks around the edges and finds the hallway empty. She sprints down to her and Delly’s door, places her hand on the lock, and once again finds the friendly blonde in the middle of the room.

“Good morning! Glad you’re back. I wasn’t sure if you would get ready over there or not. You can use the bathroom first. I’m doing my sunshine stretches. Though I should probably change the name for down here.” As Delly (who is clearly a morning person) says this, she bends over to touch her toes. The room lights above brighten from their low orange glow to the sterile daytime bluish hue. 

“Ah, there it is. Maybe I’ll just call them my ‘sunlight’ stretches.” Delly makes quotes with her fingers while still flipped upside down.

“Yea… I’ll… hop in the shower.” Katniss rushes to the bathroom. Her chat limit for the morning has already been exceeded. She will have exactly five minutes of warm water. It’s not much time, but it is still a luxury compared to the small basin they heated water on the stove to fill. Back in the home that is now nothing. Would she find a hunk of melted metal where the basin always sat?

The mismatched roommates exit their compartment together. They have to report to the closest schedule machine for each residence area.

“So, what work assignment did they give you?” Delly kicks off the conversation.

“Kitchen.” Katniss answers.

Delly claps her hands. “Oh, very nice. A hunter certainly knows the best ways to prepare meat.”

“Yea, I guess. I did most of the cooking in our household. Did they put you in textiles?”

“No, no. I’m actually in one of the Green Rooms where some of the plants are grown. I’m quite excited about it. Not a lot of people know this about me, but ever since I was little, I’ve grown window flower boxes in my bedroom above the shoe shop….” Delly’s voice trails off at the mention of her family’s shoe shop.

Katniss still does it too. Catches herself thinking about things in the present tense that are gone now. Delly’s parents were probably in that shop when the bombs dropped. Delly and her little brother Davy followed Peeta when he was rounding up as many neighbors as he could convince to go to the meadow. Katniss sees her eyes starting to tear up.

She puts a hand on Delly’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.” Katniss sounds as gentle as she does with Prim.

Delly shakes her head, forcing herself not to cry. “Everyone’s lost so much. You know the Hawkins? From the grocery? They’re the ones who were assigned as Davy’s care family. All three of their sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandbabies didn’t get out. So many. And yet they’re keeping it together enough to take care of Davy and another little boy….” Delly’s fighting the tears so hard she’s shaking.

Katniss asked about Davy last night before mother and Prim returned from the hospital. Delly informed her that 13 has strict policies about who can be a guardian to those under the age of 14. Apparently a 17-year-old sister is not an acceptable option. Katniss doesn’t know what she would have done if it had been Prim assigned to live with a random couple.

“We could go back to the room.” Katniss suggests. The two girls have stepped to the side of the corridor that is beginning to fill with the morning rush.

Delly wipes at her eyes. “I’m okay. Thank you, Katniss. You’re so sweet. Let’s get those schedules.” Katniss isn’t sure she’s ever been called sweet before. Seeing Delly like this, she feels guilty for leaving her all alone in the compartment last night. Maybe she can rotate which room she sleeps in.

Their machine is being operated by that same curt woman Katniss annoyed yesterday. She pays close attention to the line in front of her. Making sure that when her turn comes, she won’t have her arm forcefully inserted.

She does everything right. Quickly lays her arm in. Quickly removes it and steps out of the way. But the woman still addresses her. “Katniss Everdeen?”

“Yes?” Katniss watches as the woman taps a small screen strapped to her wrist.

“Your room lock shows you did not return after reflection period. You unlocked it early this morning after the wake-up alarm.” Her tone is not the one of annoyance like before, but it is unnervingly calm.

Katniss meets her glare. Not sure how else to respond. Reflection period is only 30 minutes a night. It had seemed absurd she was expected to only spend a half hour with her sister. 

“See that it doesn’t happen again.” And with that, Katniss is staring at the back of the woman’s head. A sight she hopes doesn’t become a familiar one. Sounds like she’ll have no choice but to keep Delly company.

Peeta sits across from her at the dining hall table. If they weren’t surrounded by dozens of other kitchen staff, she could almost pretend they were enjoying one of their quiet school lunches.

The first half of the day had passed in a whirlwind of activity. Twenty-five of the District 12 refugees were assigned to the kitchen. But the kitchen is a massive industrial space divided into five different stations.

When Peeta said they’d be together, she doesn’t think he was picturing that they would be able to see each other from opposite sides of a kitchen the size of the old school gym. She’s tried to picture how many bakery kitchens could fit inside. She gave up when she realized she’d never actually stepped foot inside the bakery’s kitchen and never would.

Katniss, Greasy Sae, and three others are training at the meats and soup station. District 13 provides their citizens with very limited portions of meat. It is all supplied by a small rabbit farm they’ve operated fully underground like everything else. They stretch their supplies by serving a thin stew for lunch and dinner. A stew that could benefit from Sae’s flavor skills.

Peeta is of course at the bakery station. Katniss watched him kneading and rolling the morning’s bread when she’d been stuck peeling potatoes. A task she found pointless and wasteful. But when she asked her new supervisor, he said a peeled potato is a safe potato. He didn’t even let her explain she knows how to identify root plant diseases and could save most of the skin.

They’ve completed two meal services and now the staff is taking a break for their late lunch time slot. Peeta lays his arm across the table, his hand reaching out to her. She’s not sure if he wants her to hold his hand, or what he’s doing.

“How does the rest of your day look?” He gestures to the colorful boxes printed across his forearm.

She lays her arm next to his and compares their schedules. Most of the times match up, including the next one for ‘Community Building’ that she’s most confused by. The only spot they differ is when they each do their military training hour.

Technically everyone over 14 is considered a solider here. If you have a job assignment, you’re a ‘Domestic Solider’. The ranked soldiers are the only ones Katniss would traditionally associate with the title, though.

Peeta’s fingertips brush her skin as he checks each of the times.

“Katniss!” His hand jerks up at the sound of Madge calling her name across the dining hall.

Madge jogs over to her. The hall is nearly empty besides the kitchen workers. She’s followed by a ticked off looking Gale and a few older officials. Maybe one of those meetings Gale keeps being called to ran over their normal lunch hour.

Katniss stands to meet her and Madge wraps her in a firm hug. “It’s so good to see you. They finally released me from the hospital.”

“Good to see you, too.” She’d heard that Madge was still in recovery. But she wasn’t allowed to be treated by mother or Prim.

Gale crosses his arms; his scowl matches whatever foul mood he’s in. “Hey Catnip, pretty surprised to find you here instead of at training.”

“They gave me Kitchen duty.” Katniss keeps her tone neutral. They don’t need to get into a public argument about her lack of efforts for the rebellion. 

Gale makes a disgusted snort.

“That’s great!” At least Madge seems to think it’s a good thing. “I thought for sure they’d make you part of the quo…” Her mouth abruptly clamps shut. She glances towards where the others who came in with them are being served the lunch leftovers.

Madge grabs Katniss’ schedule arm and looks it up and down. “Can I talk to you during Refection? I’ll meet you in your compartment.”

“Yes, sure.” The look in Madge’s eyes is so determined, Katniss wouldn’t dare say no.

They’ve been assembled together in what resembles a giant windowless classroom. With what must be about one hundred of their surviving classmates. And another 40 or 50 District 13 teenagers bunched together. Delly and Peeta stand on each side of her. 

She doesn’t want to examine the faces of the sixteen thru nineteen year-olds around her. Avoiding making note of which of their former classmates are noticeably absent. After all Gale and Rye aren’t here but they’re both alive. Safe.

A petite woman introduces herself as Nell and the balding man beside her as Parson. “You were each assigned a number in your timeslot. That is your group number for today. You will be assigned a new group each week.”

Katniss looks at the number in the purple area on her arm. She hadn’t paid attention to the extra bit of information before.

“Find those with your matching number and then we will announce the first community bonding game of the day.” Nell continues.

Peeta turns and gives her a half smile. “This should be interesting. I know me and Katniss’ don’t match. What do you have Delly?” Apparently, he had paid attention to those numbers.

“Ten.” Delly’s cheerful tone doesn’t help the anxiety settling in Katniss’ stomach.

“Guess they’re splitting all of us up. See you later, ladies.” Peeta waves as he slips into the crowd, calling out for the other 8’s.

Fortunately, someone in her own group takes the initiative and shouts out their number. He’s one of the boys from thirteen. His medium brown hair matching the most common coloring in this district.

It doesn’t take long for the small bundles of six to form around the room. Hers is comprised of two boys from 13, one Seam boy, one merchant girl, and Leevy (the only name she knows). Leevy lived a few houses down in the Seam and was in the same grade as Katniss.

The games start out simple enough. Thinking up easy ways to remember each other’s names, everyone’s favorite colors. She’s almost surprised when the two from 13 give answers other than grey. But they grow increasingly more awkward. Silently mimicking an animal and the rest of the group guessing what kind. Forming something called a human knot, their hands linked and arms intertwined, and working together to get untwisted. 

Her group finishes quick and efficiently. One of the 13 boys, who’s name she learned is Mace, almost had them knotted even tighter. But Katniss corrected him before he stepped through the wrong loop and was freed from the grip of his hand in a couple more steps.

She sees Peeta’s group is still stuck. He’s smiling his charmer grin while bantering and the girl caught on his arm snickers uncontrollably. He’s probably got the whole lot of strangers eating from the palm of his hand already.

“Once your group has completed the knot, you will have about ten minutes of unstructured social engagement time where you’re free to mingle around the room. Then you’ll be returning to work assignments.” Nell announces.

Peeta’s group knot is untangled within moments of the announcement. She watches him shake hands with each of them then walks straight towards her.

“Yep, definitely interesting.” Peeta smiles as he approaches.

Katniss folds her arms. “Hmm. Not the word I would choose.”

Peeta laughs. “You know what I realized?”

“That girls in thirteen will laugh at anything.”

He laughs again. “That we’ve know each other all this time, and I don’t know your favorite color.”

Her arms relax to her sides. “Green.”

“Like the forest.” He nods thoughtfully.

“What’s yours?” She’d found this question ridiculous earlier, yet now wants nothing more than to know his answer.

“Orange.” Her nose scrunches up and he laughs again. “No one else even batted an eye at that. Not bright orange. Soft, like the sunset. The real sunset.”

She closes her eyes, picturing it. How long would it take for her memory of a true sunset to fade into a foggy dream? “That does sound nice.”

Delly joins them with a familiar miner in tow behind her. “Do you guys know Huckle? We were both assigned to the Green Room.”

Peeta and Huckle exchange introductions. Katniss has met him a few times. He’d started on Gale’s mining crew barely a month ago. A month ago, when he faced a lifetime underground covered in coal. Now if he faces a lifetime underground, it will be with a green thumb instead of a coal dusted one.

“That was a lot more fun than I expected. It doesn’t feel like we should be having fun when so many….so many are…” Delly’s lip quivers and her eyes water with the morning’s unshed tears.

Peeta hugs his childhood friend. “I know, Dells. But they wouldn’t want that. They’d want all of us to keep living. Not just surviving but living. Building something new so their deaths mean something. So that all those deaths can mean something.” And they both let the tears fall. The tears they’ve been fighting so hard to keep in. 

Every muscle hurts. The military training had been a brutal workout. She’d thought hunting kept her in good shape, but nothing in the woods prepared her for the fitness level 13 expects from every citizen.

Katniss feels like her head has only grazed the pillow when the knock comes on the compartment door. She opens it and Madge hurries inside.

“Where’s your roommate?” Madge looks around the room. Katniss can tell she’s anxious, her whole-body screams tension.

Katniss sits down on the bed and Madge joins her. “She’s spending Reflection with her little brother.”

This seems to relax Madge, but only a bit. “I couldn’t tell you this earlier, but I was trying to say that I had thought you’d be part of the Quarter Quota.”

Katniss isn’t sure she heard correctly. “The Quarter….you mean the Quarter Quell?”

Madge’s face turns hard. “No. One quarter of 12’s refugees were required to become soldiers for the rebellion. It was called a quota. Almost all of them are between 20 and 40 years old unless they identified some special talent. Like with Gale. I thought for sure your aim might tip you over the edge.”

Katniss sucks in a sharp breath. Would showing her true skills at the target have turned her into the youngest ranked refugee solider?

“Coin wants to film me standing in the ashes of 12.” Madge blurts out. “They won’t even show me a picture first. Gotta get their ‘reaction shot’.” She’s looking down at something she’s fidgeting in her hand. Katniss notices that it’s the famous Mockingjay pin that helped earn Madge the moniker during her first games. “I don’t want to be the Mockingjay, anymore.”

Madge closes her fist over the pin. “So many people are dead because of me. Because of what I represent, what I did in the arena. I was told the first bomb dropped was on top of Father’s office.” Katniss has no idea where that first bomb hit, or who is telling Madge this. She does know that none of Madge’s family survived.

“Gale doesn’t understand. Says there’s so much I could do as the symbol of the rebellion. Anything I do is going to kill someone. Every move I make, Snow has a counter-move more vicious than I could have ever imagined.” Madge’s voice breaks along with Katniss’ heart.

“It’s not your fault. What happened to 12. People are going to die no matter what you do. The Capitol are the only ones to blame.” The last thing Madge needs to take on is the guilt for what happened to their home. 

“You sound like him, ya know. You should like Gale.” Madge shakes her head, her blonde curls bouncing as she does. “All those Victors who gave up their lives to get their Mockingjay out of the arena. Johanna’s in the Capitol. A prisoner. How many times did she risk her neck for me?” Johanna joined Madge, Haymitch, and Finnick in an alliance at the cornucopia. There were several close calls in the jungle that she played a critical role in their survival.

Madge sighs. “They’ve even got Effie.”

Katniss eyebrows scrunch together. “Trinket? 12’s escort?”

“I know, you see her as part of the Capitol. But she’s really just another piece in the games. She helped me a lot during the Victory Tour. We were a Team for the Quell.” Madge pauses and looks towards the door. “Coin wants Finnick to film too but he knows better. Snow has his girlfriend. Says she’d be dead as soon as anything he films hits the airways.”

“Can’t they rescue them? They got you out of the arena, can’t Coin get them out?” A normal rescue mission in the Capitol seems like it should be easy for the people who were able to bust Madge out of the Hunger Games.

Madge let’s out a humorless laugh. “She won’t risk the soldiers for ‘low value hostages’.”

“Doesn’t sound like she wants you or Finnick to film all that badly, then.”

The room is so quiet, Madge hasn’t even taken a breath. But then a smile spreads across her face. “Katniss, you’re a genius!”

Another word someone has called her today, that Katniss is sure she is not. “What?”

Madge leans in. “I’m going to tell Coin that she will rescue the Mockingjay’s allies, or she will find another Mockingjay.”


	5. Chapter 5

Five identical schedules print on her arm before there is one single variation. A Presidential Address. Unlike the first time they were gathered here, Madge is standing alone behind President Coin. No other officials or victors to distract from where the assembly below is expected to focus their attention. 

Coin continues, “Solider Undersee had a stipulation for securing her role as the rebellion’s Mockingjay.” The residents of 13 stir.

“She sought the rescue of three Capitol prisoners. Victors, Johanna Mason and Annie Cresta. And her district’s former escort, Effie Trinket.” Now it is the refugees from 12 who stir and whisper at the mention of the Capitolite. The one tasked with plucking children’s names from the reaping bowl year after year. 

“We were able to extract all three targets from the Capitol with no casualties but not without cost.” Coin’s words are spoken slow and deliberate. “Two of our Rank 9 soldiers were wounded. They are currently in stable condition. We also sacrificed multiple long-standing spy positions in order to safely execute the covert operation.”

The murmurs grow louder. Katniss strains to hear the conversations around her, ‘that woman sent our kids to their graves’, ‘why do we even need a Mockingjay?’, ‘maybe Mason will fight with us, you saw what she could do in the arena’.

“…..will require the full support of _all _our citizens.” Coin steps away from the podium, signally the end of the announcement.

The Mellark brothers and Everdeen women linger for a moment. The energy of the departing crowd is unsettling. Gale walks past them.

He pauses in front of Katniss. “I hope it was worth it, intel positions can save a lot more than three lives.”

The next schedule change is so subtle, she doesn’t notice it until Peeta asks what her new group number is during breakfast. A new number in the purple ‘Community Building’ box. Once again, their numbers don’t match. 

“Are you ready to go build a community?” Peeta asks along with an eyeroll, when the clock strikes the hour.

“I’m not really feeling well. I’ll catch up in a bit.” She’s not feeling particularly bad other than some normal cramps. But the last thing she wants to do today is meet a bunch of new people and play foolish games.

“Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?” He looks at her with such concern, she feels guilty telling him the fib.

“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.” She doesn’t think he’s convinced but he leaves with a wave and a wish for her to feel better soon. 

Katniss slips into the hospital wing. Hoping to find mother and Prim in the room of their primary patient. Haymitch was forced into a complete detox by District 13. Something that the Capitol hadn’t attempted thanks to a flask amongst the cornucopia weaponry. He’d even been parachuted a refill.

Effie was interviewed about the odd supply choice. Since twelve had no victors left for mentors, she was given the additional responsibilities for the Quell. She’d looked down and shrugged before answering, “Neither of them need to be dealing with him in withdrawal. It’s better when he’s got something to take the edge off.”

A sentiment that 13’s doctors probably should have heeded. Before the Everdeen healers were rescued, treating his arena wounds while enforcing a no tolerance alcohol policy had proven challenging to say the least.

His worst injury was inflicted during the confusion of those final minutes before ‘midnight’. Haymitch rage attacked Brutus for killing the District 11 tribute Chaff. He was overpowered quickly and took a major gash to his leg before Finnick’s trident flew through the jugular of the District 2 giant.

“Katniss!” Prim rushes to the door and hugs her sister. It feels like they’ve barely seen each other this past week with nothing but Reflection lining up on their schedules.

“Hey, Little Duck.” Katniss says while tucking in the back of Prim’s uniform shirt.

“Are you on a break?” Their mother asks from where she’s hovering over her patient.

“An unexpected visitor. Oh goody. Hey hun, you gonna finish up with your torture or shall we pour some tea and gab?” Haymitch slightly lifts the leg mother is treating. Mother purses her lips and continues his wound care.

Prim returns to the bedside. Back into healer apprentice mode. “We were worried there for a bit. They thought it might need amputated, but it’s healing well now.”

The most sarcastic 'yippee' Katniss has ever heard comes from the despicable man.

Katniss rounds the dry drunk. “You could show a little gratitude. Heard none of 13’s nurses wanted to deal with you after you punched one in detox. These two _volunteered_ to take care of you and that sorry leg of yours.”

He settles back and adjusts one of his pillows. “Hey Sweetheart, I’d be eternally grateful to anyone who would bring me a drink. Maybe one less leg would help that drink kick in a bit faster.”

“I’m sure the leg part can still be arranged.” Katniss snarls. 

Haymitch is bold enough to chuckle, “Oh, now I know why Madge hangs out with you. Surly and spunky. Just her type.”

Katniss isn’t sure what he means by that. The question on her lips is interrupted by a deep voice at the door. “Everdeen?”

All three Everdeen’s answer with a ‘yes?’.

The stern faced solider looks at what Katniss has learned is called a communicuff. Gale received his after returning from filming the first Mockingjay propo. Madge crying over the ashes of her family home while Gale recounted the horrors of that fateful night.

“Katniss Everdeen?” He clarifies. Katniss raises her hand. “Are you receiving treatment for an injury or illness?”

She knows mother and Prim are only allowed to treat their assigned patients. Some of the refugees from 12 wanted their familiar healers care, but their requests were denied. “No. I am not being treated.”

Haymitch grumbles behind her, “Need to work on your lying skills, kid.”

The man speaks into his cuff. “2-692 rogue location confirmed.” He points at Katniss. “You, follow me.” 

He takes her on an unfamiliar route back to the other side of the District. She can’t place exactly where they are until two corridors away from the Community Building classroom. When they enter the room, her peers are in the typical random disarray for the last 15 minutes of social time.

“Attention!” His barking voice announces. “Solider Katniss Everdeen has been found guilty of evading her mandated schedule.” Everyone falls silent, all staring at her. She spots Peeta across the room. His eyes flick back and forth between hers and to the man beside her. He winds around their statuesque peers to reach the front.

The solider leans over and instructs straight into her ear. “Hold out your hands, palms up.” She complies with his order. A thin black stick extends with the flick of his wrist. A baton. That’s what Darius had once told her it was called. Before she can think anymore about the fate of the red headed peacekeeper who disappeared after Gale’s whipping, the baton smacks across her upturned hands.

She wishes she had been able to keep her yelp contained.

“Hey!” Peeta runs the rest of the way through the crowd. Shoving the gawkers blocking his path. “What are you doing??”

“Enforcing prodical for time post abandonment.” He closes the baton back to its inconspicuous size.

Peeta steps between the solider and Katniss. His breathing is heavy but his tone comes out surprisingly even. “She wasn’t feeling well. Don’t you think it’s excessive to be hitting people for missing one time-block?”

The soldier's eyes narrow, his lip curls. “This was strike two on her record. We survive by living under the principles of discipline and order. We will not tolerate chaos.”

“A young girl not feeling well is chaos?” Peeta maintains his casual tone. 

“17’s not a young girl here, Solider.” He tears his glare away from Peeta and refocuses on Katniss. “It’s very simple, be where your schedule says you’re to be. If you’re truly ill and not with something trivial like monthly grievances, a superior officer can issue a treatment order. See that it doesn’t happen again!” He marches out the door.

Katniss is mortified. Is the status of her cycle listed like the same basic information as her name and age? The onlookers continue to give the troublemakers a wide berth. Delly starts to come over to them. Katniss sees her stop and back up at the same moment she feels Peeta’s fingers circle her wrists.

He turns over her hands and gently inspects the bright red marks. “We’ll get some ice on this in the kitchen.”

“I've hardly gotten to spend any time with them. I just wanted to see Prim and my mo….” Katniss stops the word before it can fully form. "I didn't mean to sound....I have no right to...." She doesn't know how to take back her insensitive complaint.

He studies her, “Katniss, you can talk about your family. Really, it’s okay. It won’t bring mine back if you pretend yours isn’t here.” She’s avoided making any mention of her family in front of Peeta. She certainly hadn’t meant for him to notice.

She pulls her hands away from his undeserved soft touch. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You saved my family and I couldn’t---”

“What are you talking about? You saved your family.” He interrupts.

Katniss vehemently shakes her head. “No. None of us would have even been in the square if you hadn’t given me the bread.”

“The bread?” His eyes widen. “From when we were kids? I think we can let that go.”

She needs to do this. To finally tell him. “We were dying. That bread was the first thing we’d eaten in days. I should have thanked you at school, but I couldn’t. Not when I saw the bruise on your face. I… then I saw a dandelion and started going into the woods. My family’s alive because of you.”

“It was a couple of burnt loaves. And I didn’t even bring them to you. I tossed them. I should have gone out to you and….it wasn’t anything.” How can he say that?

“No, it was everything! You didn’t even know me. You don’t understand, you’re not Seam. Don’t know what it’s like to owe someone.”

“Owe?” Peeta wrinkles up his nose. “Yea, I couldn’t possibly understand. Look, you saved me and Rye. We’re even, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Katniss huffs. “That’s not…. the first debt is the hardest to pay back.”

He stares at her for too long. “Katniss, why did you come find me that night in the square?”

“Because Gale said something bad was coming.”

“Why did you find _me_?” He emphasizes with his hands to his chest.

“Because….” Because she needed to, but it doesn’t feel right to say.

“Were you thinking about bread and debts?”

“No.” She hadn’t been thinking about what she owed him. Hadn’t even thought of him as ‘the boy with the bread’ as her mind often does. “I was thinking about keeping you safe. Alive.”

A tiny smile crosses his face. “Okay. When I tossed you that bread that’s what I was thinking about too. Keeping you alive. Fed. Safe.”

He looks down at her throbbing hands. His own clench at his side. “I should have…”

“You are dismissed.” Parson, one of the supervisors for the hour, announces to the room. Then jogs over. “Everdeen, I will escort you to your next assignment.”

Peeta loops his arm protectively around her waist. “Surely, that isn’t necessary. We’re both going back to the kitchen. I can walk with her.”

Parson looks over the two of them and tilts his head. “It seems you’ve taken quite the special interest in her. Name?”

“Peeta, Peeta Mellark.”

“Well, Mellark. Since you’re so eager to be responsible for her. How about this? The next time slot she tries to skip, you will both receive the disciplinary action.” Katniss gasps but Parson nods with a smirk in return. “Dismissed.”


	6. Chapter 6

She can’t breathe. Even with the stench of coal, her air had more life then this sterilized oxygen pumping through the vents. Life down in the mines included one day of rest to spend above ground. Not in 13. She reminds herself that they’re safe. Secure. No one has to miss a meal. But the feeling of being suffocated is hard to ignore.

It’s been a month since the refugees of 12 were integrated into this grey society. She didn’t think a place could exist with bleaker colors than her former home. Yet here they are. The fact that the only hint of the full color spectrum is used to dictate her every minute, feels like its own cruel irony.

She studies the new color printed near her wrist. ‘Mockingjay Meeting’. Her first different time slot in weeks. She thought it must be a mistake until a solider came to the kitchen to escort her after breakfast service.

The long conference table is lined with mostly empty chairs. President Alma Coin sits at the head of the table, a portly older man directly to her right. Madge and Gale sit together. They left one chair of space between the two of them and the President. If that chair had been for Katniss, she doesn’t know. No one said anything when she chose the seat across from Haymitch about halfway down the table.

With a light Capitol accent, the portly man had introduced himself as Plutarch Heavensbee. Stretching across the table to shake Katniss’ hand before returning to his seat next to Coin.

“Solider Everdeen, I’m sure you’re wondering why we’ve called you to this meeting.” The President’s voice is light and her lips are stretched in a tight smile. It’s such a contrast to how Katniss has seen her when she’s making speeches to the district. “We’ve been informed you’re the one to thank for Madge’s archery skills she displayed in the arena.”

Katniss spares a quick glace towards Madge and Gale. Neither gives any hint as to which one informed Coin where Madge learned to shoot. If anyone should be thanked it’s Peeta, it had been his idea after the Quell announcement. ‘Maybe she could train, like the careers do every year.’ He’d whispered across the lunch table. Katniss nods an affirmation to the President.

Coin’s hands are folded casually in front of her. “It’s really a shame those skills didn’t translate over into other weaponry. Solider Hawthorne believes your skillset with a bow exceeds his own. The rebellion could always use another talented sniper.” Katniss is frozen to her seat.

Plutarch speaks next. “The Mockingjay shooting that final arrow was a powerful image. But the people haven’t seen her in action in a while now. She’ll need to be prepared before going to 8.” He closes his mouth on whatever else he was going to say after looking at Coin.

The President addresses Katniss again. “Your job is to continue the archery lessons. It will be added to your schedule in the training center. Beetee is almost finished with the bows you’ll be provided. Then the---”

“I have a bow.” Katniss is a second too late to stop herself from interrupting. Coin’s unnatural smile immediately drops. “I’m sorry …..umm when we were picked up on the hovercrafts my bow and quiver were confiscated. They said it would be stored for safe keeping.”

Everyone is silent. Haymitch leans back in his chair, his eyes bouncing between each face in the room.

Coin replants the smile across her face. “That’s very convenient then. I’m sure we can track down your bow, then the training can start tomorrow.”

Madge gently clears her throat. “We could hunt during the lessons, if we did them in the woods. That’s what Katniss did during our lessons in 12. She could provide game for the kitchen.”

“Game is too unpredictable. District 13 provides a steady and consistent supply of fresh meat. No. Lessons will be conducted in the practice range at the training center.” Coin is back to the voice she uses in her speeches. Flat, deliberate.

“But the battle field’s unpredictability is-----"

“You are not in a position to be making new requests Ms. Undersee.” The look in Coin’s cold eyes send’s a shiver down Katniss’ spine. “Soldiers Hawthorne and Everdeen, you may return to your posts.”

She’s still not sure why she needed to attend this meeting since it’s clear this was simply a formality to inform her what had already been decided. Probably checking off some box in District 13’s proper procedures handbook.

The former hunting partners exit together. Gale steps in front of her, “Follow me, I’ve got something to show you.”

She’s hardly seen him outside of glimpses in the dining hall. A disadvantage of Kitchen Duty is not sharing meal time with other departments. Not that another assignment would have guaranteed she’d have meals with Prim, and certainly not Gale. Hospital staff rotates times and ranked soldiers have their own block.

Katniss double checks where she’s expected to be. “I have to get back. My schedule says I should be at the kitchen in 15 minutes.” Whoever added this meeting knew it would be quick.

“What I want to show you won’t take that long.” He keeps walking, not even looking back to see if she’s behind him.

“Seriously, I have to go back now.” She’s already getting irritated with him.

Gale turns back around. Surprise registers in his eyes seeing she hasn’t moved. His jaw twitches as he taps on his cuff. “There, you’re exempted for the next hour.”

She stares at the cuff. “Really, Catnip?” He holds his arm out to show her the screen.

“We don’t all have the President strapped to our wrist, Gale. I don’t know what they’d do to me if I’m caught out of schedule again.” Or if they’d still punish Peeta along with her.

Gale doesn’t say anything else until they arrive at some kind of lab. He shows her what he’s been working on this last month. New weapons for the rebellion.

One targets food and water supplies. Another sets off a round of bombs, then waits until others rush in to help the wounded before detonating a second time.

She recognizes the designs immediately. Snares. The same principles she watched him use to trap animals, he’s turned into weapons against people. How they kept their families alive, can now be used to kill somebody else’s. “Isn’t this crossing a line? What a person can do to another person?”

Gale’s eyes turn as cold as Coin’s. “You mean like the line the Capitol crossed when they firebombed everyone fleeing on the road? Burned up parents trying to shield their children?” Katniss averts her eyes from his hard stare, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay.

“I wanted to show you this because this is how what we learned in the woods can be turned against the Capitol.” He takes a deep breath before continuing. “I saw your test results for target shooting. What was that?”

Katniss holds his gaze and steadies her voice. “I couldn’t use the gun.”

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t? I didn’t have much trouble adjusting and I’m not even as good a shot as you. Not that the rest of your military test results made much sense either.”

She throws her hands up in defeat. “What do you want me to say, Gale? I’m obviously not cut out to be a solider.”

His face softens. He almost looks like the friend she once knew. “You could redo the test. I can get them to let you do a new assessment. You’d be able to ---"

“No!” Her hands close into fists at her sides. Grey on grey eyes locked in the same battle they’ve had countless times before.

“So that’s it then.” He shakes his head. “As many times as I’ve argued with Madge over her capitol sympathies, at least she’s a fighter.”

Katniss winces at the disgust in his voice. “They’re not going to let their Mockingjay sit out the war. What other choice does she have?”

“We all have choices.” Gale turns back to his designs on the drafting table. “I’m sure you can find your way back without me. Kitchen’s not hard to find.”

Gale’s words replay in her mind, distracting her from the bland lunch on her tray. Most of the kitchen staff has finished their meals, leaving her and Peeta alone at their end of the table. They should start walking to ‘Community Building’ any minute, or CB as they’ve nicknamed it. Instead, Peeta is watching her push food around with her spoon.

“Katniss? What did they want? In the meeting?” His eyebrows have been pushed together ever since she showed him what she called a ‘typo’ this morning. She wants to reach out and press them back down into his more typical relaxed expression.

“They want me to give Madge more archery lessons. I guess they think the Mockingjay using a bow makes better pictures.” The soup slides off her spoon and back into the small bowl.

“Well that’s…. interesting. Hey, you think you can still shoot a squirrel right through the eye? I haven’t seen so much as a bug down here, let alone a squirrel.” He leans across the table with a conspiratorial pause, “Maybe they heard you were coming.”

It only coaxes half a smile out of her. “Madge asked if we could do the lessons above ground but Coin said no. We’ll be in the training center so…. I mean, I’m itching to get ahold of my bow. It’s just….”

“You miss the woods.” He says it like it’s simple. Like she’s allowed to miss her woods when people are missing their family members. “I have something I want to show you.”

Isn’t that what Gale had told her? Only the look on Peeta’s face is so open and sincere, she doesn’t hesitate to follow his lead. 

They start walking their usual route. Peeta’s warm hand slips into hers before turning down a new corridor. He stops in front of a set of double doors that slide open automatically.

Air. The scent hits her before the sight. Row after row of floor to ceiling green plants grow under electric lights. Filling the room with the familiar earthy smells of pollen and dirt. At the end of the crops sits what almost looks like a meadow. Small trees and patches of grass tucked among the cement.

“I’ve been studying the map of the District. We can get to CB faster this way.” Peeta pulls her further into the most beautiful room she’s seen in all of 13.

“It’s so green.” She hates the waver in her voice over something as unimportant as a color.

Peeta releases a breathy laugh and cranes his neck to look up. “Yea, for a place called the Green Room, it’s even better than I was imagining.”

Delly and Huckle are tending the plants down one of the rows. Katniss tries to wave but they’re too engrossed in conversation to notice the passersby. A sturdy woman steps out into the main path, blocking the way. “State your business,” she says in a matter of fact tone.

“Hello.” Peeta’s charm is abundant, even in his simple greeting. “This is the most efficient route to our next scheduled post.”

The woman grins. “Hmm, well you aren’t the first ones to add a walk through here to your day, and you won’t be the last. Anyone gives you any trouble, tell ‘em to talk to Quinn.” She winks at the two of them before turning back down the crop row she came from.

When Delly told Katniss how nice her supervisor was, she’d thought it had been due to Delly’s ability to see the good in everyone. Maybe the Green Room supervisor really is as friendly as her roommate claims.

They pause beneath one of the trees. A group of hummingbirds flits between the flowering branches. Peeta’s smile is blinding as he watches the busy creatures. Katniss gently squeezes his calloused hand and he gifts her with a smile even more radiant than the moment before.

His golden hair and blue eyes remind her that he doesn’t belong down here. Peeta was never meant for life underground, in the coal mine or in a grey bunker. He should be in the sunlight, in a safe bakery. Creating carefully crafted masterpieces with his talented hands.

She wishes she could find a tiny piece of the sun for him, the way he’s found this tiny piece of the forest for her.


End file.
